Al Muayjii Fort, Al Ain

Submitted by RayHole on Wed, 2011-02-23 12:17

The Fort is located adjacent to a date palm oasis irrigated by the surrounding mountains. Having been restored as a heritage site it consists of a perimeter wall surrounding a large courtyard, with other facilities including a mosque located around the towers on each corner.
The design brief was to provide a visitor centre to include an exhibition, cafe, guest facilities, storage and parking. Given the scale of the new accommodation and the sensitivity of the existing architecture, the team elected to bury it beneath the existing courtyard, using the mass of the surrounding earth to maintain sustainable internal environmental conditions plus providing natural ‘black-out’ for the exhibition with only the entrance visible signified by a sculptural glass conical form rising dramatically from the ground.